


Beautiful Freedom - minifics & drabbles

by Leni



Series: Beautiful Freedom [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-28 05:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17176967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: If it's 300 words or shorter, it's posted here.(one-shot collection)





	1. "invisible"

Her only link to the curse was the contract.

A deal with the Dark One was meant to last forever, powerful enough to influence this world, but not to give her a role of her own. It gave her a tenuous hold to this reality, one that kept her confined within Mr. Gold’s sphere.

She cleaned his home, tended his business, and had meaningful interaction with other human beings only while running errands for her erstwhile master.

Otherwise, they struggled to remember her face.

“Feeling invisible?” the Queen whispered one day, coming to sit across the table while Belle tried to hail the attention of the waitress. She laughed when Ruby spotted Belle, gave a thumbs up, and then frowned as soon as she turned around, having already forgotten the client she meant to show the menu. “It will always be like this. You’re not meant to be here, and they can’t see what I don’t choose to show them.”

A shiver ran down Belle’s spine, chilled by the Queen’s absolute power over Storybrooke.

No. Not absolute.

Not completely.

That she walked free, instead of having been snatched and shoved back in that hospital dungeon, was proof that the Queen’s control slipped where it concerned her.

She took a deep breath so her voice wouldn’t tremble. “Go away, Your Majesty.”

“Still defiant, I see.” Red lips curled with condescension. “How long until you’re sick of living in Gold’s shadow?”

It had been months already.

However, Belle had once faced a lifetime of solitude in the Dark Castle, even before she’d discovered that Rumpelstiltskin wasn’t the terror she had feared.

Life in a small town, even isolated, could be endured for a long while yet.

“I’ll be fine,” she said, patting the notebook she now carried everywhere. The written word was her ally, a note shoved into a person’s hand the surest aid to have them remember her. “Whatever you want from me; however you think I’ll help you-” she met the Queen’s eyes without flinching for once “-just forget it.”

 

The End  
25/12/18


	2. "invisible"

Eventually, Belle learned that Storybrooke was a small town among hundreds in a country. and that country only a fraction of the world without magic. She searched the shelves, spreading endless, impossibly detailed maps over the counter.

“Planning your escape, Miss Beaumont?”

(Gold. Not Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin was gone, both the daydream that had kept her company in her cell; and the playful, all-powerful wizard who hadn’t chosen her.)

Belle shook her head. The scars had faded, but despair hadn’t yet driven her to return to the town line. “I just need to see it’s real.”

“See what?”

“The world outside.”


	3. "hugs"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for @nropay

After the diner closed, Ruby didn’t have the strength or patience to deal with her grandmother. She and the old woman had little in common save their irritability at anything the other did - and a dislike for Mr. Gold and anyone foolish enough to defend him.

“Say, Granny,” Ruby said, pointing across the street. “Is it Hug Your Landlord day?”

Granny made a sound of disgust, not bothering to look up from the business of refilling the condiment bottles. “Not in my life.”

“Shouldn’t someone” - _meaning, you; you old meddler_ \- “tell Lacey?”

Two bottles of mayonnaise thumped down onto the table. “If the girl is so stupid she’ll waste her hugs on Gold, I have nothing to say to her.”

Ruby frowned. It wasn’t like her grandmother to dismiss an excellent opportunity to correct someone else’s behavior. Then she noticed the mulish line on Granny’s mouth, so like the one that appeared whenever she railed at Ruby’s indiscretions and Ruby ignored her.

She started snickering. “You already tried, didn’t you?”

Her grandmother answered with a glare.

Ruby had thought that no one under Gold’s thumb could be interesting, but if Lacey took on Granny, then she might be worth knowing.


	4. "whip"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 100 words

“Belle.”

The single word made her whip around.

She understood that the curse needed to follow its natural path. That it would take another fifteen years for the Savior to arrive. That Regina must remain unaware of the woken prince and queen, or she’d choose obliteration over defeat.

She had said goodbye to Rumpelstiltskin, and expected Mr. Gold to return for dinner.

“What have you done?”

Rumpelstiltskin came closer, holding out a small vial. “I can make Lacey real,” he offered.

And place herself under Regina’s mercy? “No.”

The vial disappeared into his pocket again. “Then I’ll stay with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is great!


End file.
